Grand Forks Herald, ND
05-25-06
FINE ARTS: Greater Grand Forks
Symphony names 10th music director
Herald Staff Report
James Hannon, director of orchestral activities at Iowa State University, has
been named the 10th music director of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony.
Announced Tuesday night at the Century Club Dinner, an annual symphony
fund-raiser, Hannon will begin his tenure with the symphony's 98th season in
2006-2007.
Hannon conducts the ISU Symphony Orchestra and teaches instrumental
conducting at the university in Ames. A native of Battle Creek, Mich., he began
his musical studies on the violin. He received his bachelor's degree in music
education from Michigan State University, where he studied violin with I-Fu Wang
and Lyman Bodman and string pedagogy with Judith Palac, a news release said.
Hannon went on to earn a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting from
Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where he also was a Suzuki
pedagogy student of John Kendall. He has completed all coursework for a
doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a
student of David E. Becker, and he has since appeared as a guest conductor
with a number of orchestras in the United States and Europe.
Hannon has served as orchestra director and violin professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Eau Claire, as well as assistant professor of music and director of
orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he also taught violin
and viola.
An avid educator, Hannon has held the position of music director of the Battle
Creek Youth Symphony, Belleville Philharmonic Youth and Ungdomsinfoniker
orchestras, in addition to serving as a clinician both within the United States and
abroad. Additionally, he serves as music director/conductor of the Central Iowa
Symphony.
Hannon's appointment follows a two-year national search. During the first year,
initial applications were screened by a search committee headed by Gerald Gaul,
the symphony's principal violist and a local ophthalmologist. Assisting Gaul on
the committee were Judy Megorden, a music teacher at Phoenix Elementary
School; Anne Christopherson, a soprano and music professor at UND; Eric
Lawson, the symphony's concertmaster and director of UND's string program;
Naomi Welsh, music teacher and director of the symphony's Chamber Music
Program; Steve Silverman, president of the Symphony Board of Directors;
Michael Wittgraf, a Grand Forks composer and UND music professor; and
Jennifer Tarlin, the symphony's executive director.
In the second year of the search, each finalist was invited to conduct a concert. A
grant from the Knight Foundation enabled the Symphony to broaden the search
process to include evaluation and feedback from community members,
audiences and musicians.
The search committee recommended Hannon as its first choice when the board
met in May. Although the board unanimously accepted the committee's
recommendation, Hannon was out of the country on a three-week trip to Europe
and initial negotiations were conducted by long distance telephone and email.
Hannon returned to the country late Tuesday afternoon, in time to hear the
applause of the dinner guests after his appointment was announced last night,
and to briefly thank the orchestra musicians and patrons - by cell phone.
"The response to Mr. Hannon's conducting was more than enthusiastic," Tarlin
said. "It was electric. Although many of our finalists were warmly received by
musicians and audience members alike, there was strong general agreement
that by virtue of his conducting skill, background and temperament, Mr. Hannon
would be the best fit for our community."